I love you, Sleepyhead
by emilyfvckingfitch
Summary: Camping AU. It's been 3 weeks since Karma and Amy "came out", and Amy's in a confused place. She doesn't know how she feels or what to do, but what will happen when she and Karma decide to get away from everyone for a while and sleep under the stars for real? Might be a one shot, but may continue if peeps want me to. :) Inspired by "I love you, Sleepyhead" by lanterns on the lake.
1. Chapter 1

"I told you camping was a bad idea. I can't work this shit out to save my life."

Amy chuckled to herself and smiled as she watched her best friend struggle to assemble the mess that was their tent. Karma was only barely visible beneath the mass of tent poles and zips and nylon sheets.

"You could try reading the instructions," Amy sniggered, earning an eyeroll from Karma, who had long since abandoned the instructions. The brunette emerged from the pile of tent sheets and flopped down on top of them in defeat.

"Fuck this. I give up," she moaned, closing her eyes. "I. Give. Up."

"It's not that hard."

Karma shot up, eyes wide and jaw dropped in mock exasperation. "You take that back! This was your stupid idea in the first place!"

Amy raised her eyebrows.

"Okay, maybe it was mine," Karma sighed. "But the tent is yours. Why am I the one putting it up?"

"Come on. We both know I'm the lazy one in this relationship," Amy joked. Even now, three weeks after their "coming out", she still felt a rush of blood in her cheeks and a hint of butterflies in her stomach when she thought about the possibility of them actually being together.

_Shut up, Amy. She's your best friend. You're just doing her a favour. She'll get with Liam and she won't need you to be her girlfriend anymore and that will be that._

Karma got up once more, picked up the tent sheets, bunching them all into a pile in her arms. She headed to the edge of the clearing where they'd built their fire.

"The fuck are you doing?"Karma said, snapping out of her train of thought. She watched with curiosity as the beautiful brunette struggled to attach one end of the tent sheet to a thick, sturdy branch, and proceeded to tie a tight knot with the leftover rope.

"If neither of us are gonna put this damn thing together, I might as well come up with an alternative."

Amy laughed as Karma finished tying up the sheet to a tree directly across from the first.

"A hammock? Really, Karma? A hammock."

"It's a good idea!" Karma pouted, visibly deflating. "What's wrong with a hammock?"

"We'll have like, no room."

"So?"

"What if it rains?"

"What if it does?"

"Karma," Amy moaned, throwing her arms in the air with exasperation.

"Amy!" mimicked Karma, impersonating Amy's whiny tone. Amy tried to keep a straight face but fell over in fits of giggles as Karma abandoned the hammock and jumped on top of her, tickling her everywhere she could reach.

The two spent the rest of the evening by the fire, toasting marshmallows and talking endlessly about everything; school, parties, crushes, Netflix, and to Amy's disgust, Liam.

"He's so gorgeous, Amy," she gushed. "And he's so smart and passionate and he's actually into me now that everyone thinks that we're together. I never thought he'd ever even notice me, and now we're having a secret fucking affair. How insane is that?"

"Pretty insane," the blonde would agree absentmindedly.

However, when the topic of conversation was anything but Liam, Amy loved listening to Karma. She loved hearing her talk about everything – even tiny things like her homework, her favourite characters on different TV shows, even what she had for dinner last night.

"I'm probably boring the ass off you," Karma would apologise.

"You're not. You never do," she'd say casually, all the while her stomach full to the brim with butterflies and knots.

Later on in the night, when the fire had died down and the moon was high in the sky, the pair found themselves in Karma's makeshift-hammock, two shivering figures huddled as close together as possible.

They had done this all the time when they were younger – every single sleepover they had, Amy would insist on being the one to use the sleeping bag, but somehow they'd always end up fast asleep and snoring away in each other's arms. But recently things felt different for Amy.

What used to feel natural and normal now felt much different. Not in a particularly bad way, no – now there was just a sort of lingering insecurity, a subtle fear of Karma somehow finding out how Amy felt about her if she got too close to her.

She knew it was ridiculous, of course – but she often felt as if Karma could read her mind. Sometimes she worried that if she opened up anymore to Karma, she'd figure out everything.

She'd realise that Amy was in love with her.

Karma leaned her head against Amy's shoulder and sighed, staring up at the inky night sky.

"This is just like your ceiling," Karma said, and Amy smiled.

"Yeah. It's comforting."

"Comforting? What's there to be nervous about here?" Karma asked.

Amy turned her head to the side and looked down at her friend, barely visible in the dark of the forest clearing, and raised her eyebrows.

"Uh, bears and shit?"

"Don't worry about them. You're with me, I'll protect you," she smiled. Amy gave her a weak grin but closed her eyes and turned onto her side, trying to get comfortable.

They were silent for a long time, nothing but their steady breathing and the sounds of the forest surrounding them – crickets chirping, squirrels scurrying about, the faint rush of the stream running below them.

Finally, it was Karma's quiet voice who broke the silence.

"Amy?"

"Yeah?

"Are you mad at me?" she whispered.

"No."

Karma sat up, and looked down at Amy. "I call bullshit."

Amy sighed, and sat up next to her. She stared at her best friend, the cold night air cutting at her body now that her best friend wasn't leaned up against her. "I'm not mad at you, okay?"

"Then what is it?" Karma pressed on.

Amy bit her lip. Karma knew there was something up, and she knew that she'd stop at nothing to find out what it was.

She took a deep breathe, and decided to start slow. "I don't want to fake it anymore."

"You don't want to be my girlfriend?" said Karma. "I thought you didn't mind."

"No, it's not that- I do, but – Karma – I love you, okay?"

Karma smiled, her eyes crinkling up in the cute way they always do when she smiles for real – not her fake smile she wore around Liam. "I love you too, doofus. But why don't you want to be a, yunno, 'couple' anymore? It's fine with me, but I thought you liked being popular."

"No, Karms, you don't get it, okay? I want to be your girlfriend. But that's it," She took a deep breath and ploughed on, the threat of tears welling up beneath her eyes. "I don't want to be your fake girlfriend or your way to Liam or any of those other popular kids. I want to be your _girlfriend._ Your real one. And I know that it's weird and fucked because you're my best friend but ever since this stupid idea – this fake girlfriends thing – I can't stop thinking about you."

There were tears pouring down her face now, and she wiped them away angrily, waiting with bated breath as Karma processed what she'd just said.

"You love me?" Karma repeated, her expression unreadable, her voice quiet.

Amy nodded.

Karma sat speechless for a moment, looking at Amy in shock.

She took Amy by the front of her shirt and pulled the blonde towards herself, falling back into the hammock and she kissed her hard. Amy responded with such enthusiasm that they almost fell out of the hammock, and the two broke the kiss in a fit of giggles.

Amy leaned back in towards Karma and kissed her once more; softer and gentler this time, prolonging the moment as much as she could. As if it were her first kiss.

Which, in a way, it was.


	2. Chapter 2

When Amy woke, the air was completely still. She sat up in the cramped hammock and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Around her was nothing but quiet. There was still a slight chill to the air as she surveyed her surroundings. The sky was a baby blue, tinted pink on the horizon. The birds hadn't woken yet… the world was still fast asleep.

She smiled as she looked down at the sleeping figure curved against her body. Karma's breaths were deep and slow. Amy wondered for a brief moment if she was dreaming – even fast asleep, Karma had a small, goofy smile on her face.

Amy had never seen dawn look so beautiful before now. Lying back down into the hammock, she played with Karma's hair, careful not to wake her best friend as she watched the sunrise.

Her best friend.

Her girlfriend.

_(Was Karma actually her girlfriend now? Her real girlfriend?)_

_(When did she get so lucky?)_

After a while the sunlight began to creep over the trees in the clearing and Karma stirred, eyes blinking rapidly as the sun and warmth hit her face.

"Morning, sleepyhead," Amy smiled.

"Bleeeughhhhh…" Karma squashed her face into Amy's shoulder and moaned. "It should not be legal to wake up this early."

"I've been awake since dawn."

"How the fuck do you even do that?" Karma said, her voice muffled through the fabric of Amy's jumper. "It's inhuman."

"I can't really sleep anywhere other than my bed."

Karma sat up, stretched her arms out and gave an almighty yawn. "Me neither. I guess I just sleep better when I'm with you."

Amy blushed at the comment, memories of the previous night floating back into her mind.

"Last night was fun," Karma grinned, as if speaking Amy's thoughts aloud. "I… wasn't expecting it."

"Me neither," Amy confessed.

Karma reached over and, slowly, cautiously, took Amy's hand in her own. "So… what happens now?"

"What happens now," Amy said, half-jumping, half-falling out of the hammock. "Is breakfast. I'm fucking starving."

Karma laughed and followed suit, climbing carefully out of the floating bed. "We really should've thought that whole hammock thing though."

"_You _should have," Amy teased her. "I'm not takin' no blame for your weirdo ideas."

The morning passed almost as quickly as the night – spent rekindling the campfire, rifling through their bags in search of food, and finally, cooking everything they could spear with a branch. Sausages, bacon, toast, chicken, marshmallows, cookies – there really were no boundaries.

Karma stuffed a combination of several slices of toast and marshmallows into her mouth, a look of complete satisfaction painted on her face as she chewed.

"This is friggin' beautiful," she said. "I adore you, Amy Raudenfeld, master chef and number one girlfriend."

Amy looked down at her branch and fiddled with her piece of toast, gathering her thoughts before speaking. "I was meaning to ask you something last night before we fell asleep."

Karma set her food down beside her on a paper plate she'd retrieved from her bag and smiled. "I'm all ears."

"Are we… together? I mean – properly. After last night, I just… It's been on my mind. I'm not sure what you meant when you kissed me, but I do know… I've never been happier."

Karma walked over to where Amy was sitting by their failed tent-making attempt and sat down on the log beside her, looping one arm around her shoulder and tilted Amy's head to face herself.

"I fucking love you, Amy. I've never thought about being with any girl other than you. And I want to be with you."

"Really?"

"Really. But…"

Amy felt as if an anchor had been dropped into the pit of her stomach. "There's a 'but'."

"Amy, I can't just dump Liam out of nowhere."

Amy got up from her seat and paced around the clearing. "You guys aren't even together."

"We are! It wouldn't be right and you know it, Amy. Honestly. He's a good guy."

"He's a creep! Karma, he _knew _you had a girlfriend, and he still went after you."

"I didn't actually have a girlfriend. And if I recall, you did the exact same thing, knowing I was with Liam. That's not fair."

"Neither is kissing me if you're gonna act like this after!" Amy retorted. "What, you tell me you love me back just to lead me on? What's the fucking point?"

She threw her food down and trudged off, scooping up her bag as she went, making her way out of the clearing. She couldn't fight with Karma. She needed space.

"Amy, please come back," Karma called. "I'm sorry."

"Not now, I need some space."

"Amy plea-"

"Just leave me alone for a while, okay?"

She picked up her pace and made her way to the outskirts of the forest, and slowed when the dirt and grass gradually faded into muck and a hint of sand.

The lake.

Amy bit her lip, memories of their first time here flooding back, filling her up like the air in her lungs.

Memories of Karma teaching her to swim. Memories of them coming here with Karma's parents, unloading all the beach towels, blow-up boats, and water rings from the car. Memories of laughter and exploring and fights that lasted ten minutes at most.

Memories of their first kiss.

Their _real_ first kiss, three years ago.

_Now isn't the time for nostalgia, Raudenfeld._

_It was one kiss. Get over it._

Amy hastily wiped the tears now forming in her eyes with her sleeve and sat down in the sand, putting her head in her hands.

_Fuck._

**Hey guys! Thank you so, so much for the positive responses and favourites/follows, I wasn't expecting this much of a response at all, I'm so happy. This chapter is shorter than the first, apologies, but the next one will be a big one. Hope you guys liked this one, sorry for all the angst ahaha, I'll make sure there's a satisfying ending! c: **


	3. Chapter 3

Amy sat by the muddy lake edge. She felt as if every cell in her brain had been replaced with one thousand manic, buzzing bees, creating so much din and chaos that she couldn't even hear herself _think._ She sniffled, and looked out at the water, still and smooth as if it were made entirely of glass. And she thought of Karma.

It was no use, trying to get Karma out of her head. It wasn't even because of what had happened last night, it wasn't because of Liam, or the kiss, or that stupid hammock, that stupid breakfast, or the stupid fact that this girl might just be the goddamn love of her _life – _it was because Karma Ashcroft was, undoubtedly, the best friend Amy had ever had the privilege to know.

And now, she might have gone and screwed even that up.

She looked out at the lake, and she remembered all the memories this place held between its waters' folds. She remembered the happiest moment of her entire life, two years ago.

_Karma dragged Amy deeper into the water, laughing as she splashed her best friend to near freezing point with unabashed glee. Amy shivered, waist deep in the murky green water, and wrung the wetness out of her hair as Karma watched with a cheeky grin on her face._

"_I am so getting you back for this," Amy grumbled. She tried putting on a foul face, but she knew deep down it wouldn't last for long. She liked to pretend to Karma that she was annoyed, but really, she didn't care at all. Any time spent with Karma was time well spent… no matter how disgustingly freezing it was out there._

"_Sure you will," Karma chuckled. "We both know five minutes from now, you'll be back in your tent, watching DVDs on your laptop."_

"_Will not," Amy retorted. _

"_Really?"_

"_Really," Amy said. And she meant it. Because no matter how much she really wasn't_ _the, well, outdoorsy type, today had actually been kind of perfect. The sun was painted a fiery red, dotted with shades and splatters of orange and canary yellow. They'd been here since just after noon, and though her skin was shrivelled as a prune and every part of her ached with fatigue, Amy never wanted to leave. Not without Karma, anyway. _

_The brunette paddled closer to her, and pushed her down in the water. Amy resurfaced, horrified, and spat copious amounts of water from her mouth. "What the hell was that for?"_

"_Figured you wouldn't mind if you didn't plan on leaving anytime soon," Karma smirked. "Let's play a game. I'm getting bored of annoying you."_

"_That's a shock," Amy said. Karma rolled her eyes. _

"_Just come up with a game."_

"_Alright. Truth or dare."_

_Karma's whole face lit up, and she jumped up and down in the water with jubilance. "You know me well, Raudenfeld. Alright. You first. Truth or dare?"_

_Amy bit her lip. She hadn't really thought this part through._

"_Uh, truth."_

"_Have you ever kissed a guy?"_

_Amy sighed. "You know the answer to that. We spend every friggin' day together."_

"_I know. Just making sure. You never know what could happen."_

_Amy shook her head. "No, I haven't."_

_She paused._

"_Have you?"_

_Karma nodded, and Amy felt something in her heart deflate just a little bit. She wasn't even sure why. _

"_Who?" she asked, not particularly sure if she even wanted the answer._

"_Just some guy at a Halloween party," Karma said, and shrugged. "Barely lasted five seconds. I wouldn't even call it a kiss, really."_

_Amy nodded, lost for words, and chose to look at the sky again, just to have something to do. Everything about this place was so beautiful. The sky like fire. The endless waters beneath it. All the trees that closed it all in. The heat in the air, the cricket songs, the late evening forest smell you find just after it's rained._

_The girl floating next to her on her back, eyes closed, soaking up the last of the evening rays._

"_Are we still playing?" Amy asked. Karma opened her eyes and smiled._

"_Always. Truth."_

"_You can't pick truth. I picked truth."_

"_That isn't a rule," Karma moaned. "C'mon."_

_Amy sighed. "Fine. Just this once."_

_She thought for a moment, and then something hit her. Something she'd never asked her best friend before._

"_Have you ever kissed a girl?"_

_Karma frowned, and shook her head. "Never really thought about it." _

"_Oh."_

"_I would, though," she added. "Don't see why I wouldn't."_

_Amy opened her mouth, another question forming on her tongue, but closed it again at the thought of actually voicing it out loud. She couldn't. But it was too late._

"_What were you gonna say?" Karma said, and Amy felt like hitting herself. She sighed._

"_Nothing… it's just - "_

"_Just what?"_

"_Well… I mean, since you've never kissed a girl, and like, I've never even kissed _anyone _before… we could, I don't know, like - "_

"_Kiss?"_

_Amy's mouth went dry, but before she knew it, the brunette had swam closer to her. Amy hoped Karma couldn't see how much she was trembling right now._

"_Just this once," Karma said, her voice low and measured. "Yeah?"_

_Amy nodded, and Karma draped her arms around her best friend's neck. She looked into her eyes, the eyes she'd known and loved for so long. And she pressed her lips against Amy's. She kissed her soft upper lip, and then the bottom, and then both at the same time, prolonging each kiss like they had all time in the world to waste. Like time would never end._

_And then it was over, and the two were breathing heavy, and suddenly the air felt a whole lot colder, the water far icier, and the sky was no longer crimson, but a murky blue, growing deeper with every second that passed. Shivers raced up Amy's spine like scuttling spiders as the reality of what had just happened set in her mind._

"_Whoa," Karma murmured. She placed a hand to her bottom lip._

"_I know"_

Amy shook her head, trying to rattle the memories from her brain. Things weren't like that anymore. It wasn't just the two of them anymore. It was her, Karma... and Liam.

She got up from where she had been sitting for the past hour or so, her legs numb and wobbly and her jeans stained with dirt. She made her way back through the forest, and Karma was sat on the same wooden log Amy had left her on.

"We need to talk... I'm sorry I ran off like that," Amy muttered.

Karma bit her lip.

"What?" Amy asked. Her heart thumped in her chest as she waited for an answer.

"I never said it back. In the hammock. I said it earlier but you were so angry and I just, I need you to know - "

"What?" Amy asked again. Karma was babbling, and when she got like this, it only got more incoherent.

Karma got up from the log, and stared at Amy, eyes wide and shimmering with the threat of tears.

"I love you too, Amy."

**Hey guys!**

**This may seem really weird, being the first chapter to be posted in… well, nearly five months. I'm so sorry about that. I had awful writers block, and when I finally got motivation back, I decided to put it towards my novel and poetry etc, and everything kind of exploded w/ personal life/school life, and… well, it's been a busy few months. But I'm going to start updating this fic again on a regular basis. I've gotten on top of my study for school and I might actually have time now.**

**I'm blown away at the amount of followers this thing has gotten after just two chapters. Hope you guys enjoy this one.**

**H :) **


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